When e-cigarettes were first introduced as a mainstream alternative to traditional cigarettes it was hoped they would prove to be a healthier choice. While vaping has been shown to expose the user to fewer toxic chemicals than regular tobacco, health experts have still warned that it comes with its own risks. And now scientists have shown the flavour of vape you choose is relevant.
A new study has shown that mint-flavoured vapes damage lungs more than any other flavour.
This is because it produces more toxic microparticles compared to menthol-free liquids.
The research, published in the journal Respiratory Research, revealed that those using mint vapes took shallower breaths and had poorer lung function than other smokers.
This was regardless of how long they smoked cigarettes, whether they used cannabis-laced vaping products, and their age, gender, and race.
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Scientists warn the minty flavour could be as dangerous as cannabinoid vapes which have been strongly linked to lung injury.
It comes amid the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) continuing pressure on cigarette manufacturers to ban menthol in regular tobacco products including cigarettes and cigars.
Despite this, vaping is growing more popular with around 3.2 million adults in the UK reported to use e-cigarettes.
Senior author Professor Kambez Benam, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, warned: “Many people, especially youth, erroneously assume that vaping is safe, but even nicotine-free vaping mixtures contain many compounds that can potentially damage the lungs.
The vape-particle numbers can then be engineered and applied to model lungs – or “lung-on-chip” devices – to quickly yield high-quality data indicating potential toxicity.
Previously, Professor Benam’s team discovered vitamin E acetate, a common additive in cannabinoid e-cigarette liquids, generates more toxic small particles.
These particles can travel deep inside the lung and wedge themselves in the narrowest airways and lining of the walls of the trachea and bronchus.
This study concluded that menthol additives could be just as dangerous as vitamin E acetate – strongly linked with lung injury in e-cigarette and vape users.
The long-term effects of vaping
The long-term effects of vaping have been chronicled in medical journals for several years.
A case study presented in the Journal of Radiology Nursing in 2020 shared how a teenager had succumbed to E-cigarette, or Vaping Product, Use Associated Lung Injury, which is more commonly known as EVALI, following months of vaping.
The report detailed his symptoms. It said: “A previously healthy 16-year-old male presented with progressive shortness of breath, cough, and hypoxemia [low level of oxygen in the blood] in the setting of several months of daily nicotine and THC-containing e-cigarette use.
“He had been suffering from a chronic cough and intermittent nausea since he started vaping several months before presentation.
“His cough worsened one week before admission to our hospital, accompanied by post-tussive emesis [vomiting enduced by coughing] and non-bloody diarrhoea.”
It claimed that as of 2019 more than 2,000 cases, including more than 60 deaths, of lung injury associated with electronic nicotine and marijuana delivery systems in the US were reported to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of these, 15 percent of patients were under the age of 18.
The study added: “EVALI has emerged as a public health threat, making it crucial for the health-care community to promptly recognize and manage this condition.”
According to Yale Medicine, common symptoms of EVALI include:
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Fever and chills
- Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain
- Rapid heartbeat
- Rapid and shallow breathing.
